Needle safety has long been a concern of doctors, dentists and other health professionals. The recent spread of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has changed a needle prick from a minor irritation to a potentially fatal injury. A July 30, 1988 update from the Surveillance, Forecasting and Impact Assessment Unit of the Global Programs on AIDS reports:
"Since June, 1988, a total of 7,766 AIDS cases have been reported to WHO [World Health Organization], bringing the cumulative world total to 108,176. A total of 177 countries are now reporting to WHO with 140 reporting one or more AIDS cases. About half of this month's increase was reported from the U.S.A. and updated reports from several African countries accounted for most of the other half."
The U.S. Center for Disease Control statistics dated Sept. 5, 1988 show a total of 22,242 AIDS cases reported since Jan. 1, 1988 and a cumulative total of 72,645 cases. These alarming statistics dictate the use of improved safety devices and procedures for anyone potentially exposed to AIDS. Regarding health professionals in particular, the CDC report included one health care worker who developed AIDS after a documented needle stick.
Medical needles generally are covered by a protective cap when not in use. When a needle is so covered, it presents little or no danger of needle stick to a user. A danger is presented when handling an uncapped needle and particularly in the process of recapping a needle. One method of avoiding injury when recapping a needle is to use a needle cap holder to hold the cap during the reinsertion.
A device for holding a syringe including a needle having a protective cap mounted on the syringe is known which includes an enlarged flat base for maintaining the device upright on an underlying surface. It further includes a central elongate well extending into the device and having a longitudinal axis normal to the base for receiving the needle cap and maintaining the syringe upright. The well is internally threaded to hold the cap in place while allowing withdrawal of the needle for use.
Use of such a threaded well device thus requires a user to rotate the syringe in order to engage the cap in the holder. As the cap is free to rotate around the needle, it may be necessary to use both hands to engage the cap in the holder; one hand to support the syringe upright and the other hand to directly rotate the cap to threadably engage it in the holder. This process is cumbersome and time-consuming. For those reasons, a health worker may be discouraged from using the device consistently and instead may take unnecessary risks by handling the needle cap without such a device. Another drawback of the device described is that the syringe is held upright between uses; a display that is disconcerting for many patients.
In the absence of a suitable cap holder, a user simply holds the syringe in one hand and the cap in the other to reinsert the needle in the cap. That procedure obviously is fraught with danger of incurring a needle stick, with the attendant risk of transmitting AIDS, hepatitis, or other blood-borne diseases to the health worker.
A pick guard for shielding the delicate tip of a medical pick or the like is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,904,333. That device includes a pair of elongate jaws integrally hinged together at one of their ends for pivotal movement between open and closed positions. It must be held in one hand while the needle is introduced between the jaws and then clamped to a closed position in which it grips the needle. Such a device does not appear suitable for covering the tip of a needle. Its use requires holding the guard in one hand while introducing the needle between the jaws. A miscalculation in that regard likely would lead to a needle stick injury, as no means is provided for shielding a user from such an injury.
A protective device for needles of hypodermic syringes is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,854,976. That device is adapted to hold a needle which is separate from the syringe; it is of no benefit for holding a syringe including a needle having a cap mounted thereon or for holding the cap.
Accordingly, the need remains for a needle safety device for protecting a user from needle stick injury while handling a syringe including a needle having a protective cap mounted on the syringe.